Hey guys, I posted this in the forum of the site I have been using for step-by-steps and haven't been very successful getting help, so I thought I would turn here.....which I should have done in the first place. Here is my other post

I just setup SCCM 2007 R3 on a Windows 2008 R2 Server with SQL 2008. The 2008 server is joined to my domain (DC = 2003 running AD, DHCP, DNS). I have followed all the steps here for installation and configuration.
I am currently in the process of trying to run a Build and Capture of Windows 7 Enterprise x64 TS and I am having problems. I have been following this process to do so. This issue I am having is that during the process it won't capture the image. Once I get to the part of "Setup windows and ConfigMgr", it will download the Configuration Manager client file, say it is installing and then say that it is preparing my desktop and finally opens to the Windows 7 Desktop. It never captures the image, or installs the client back to the computer. I don't know where to look for why it is not working because I am not sure where to find the log files, since the client never gets installed again.

I can include any screenshots or log files needed, just let me know which ones. Also the TS if need be.

I deleted all of that and only left the SMSCACHESIZE=8000. This then installed the client and continue with installing software in the TS.

The patch doesn't make to much a difference in the end for me. I have collections setup that will automatically install the patch if it isn't already installed. I will update on the Build and Capture issue soon.

26 Replies

I fought with this process for days/weeks... eventually got it working and then realized it was not really what I wanted or needed to do anyway. Unfortunately, windows-noob (and that guy Anyweb) are about the best help you can ask for with regards to SCCM.... (It's the one product I've had bvetter luck getting help with, somewhere other than Spiceworks).

With that.... I wish I could help specifically with your issue..... but I am more wondering what your overall goal is...... in which case I might be able to help or share some TS's or processes I've used..... So... can you describe what it is you actually want to accomplish in the end? (I might not be able to solve your particular issue but may be able to suggest an alternative way of doing it, still with SCCM).

I basically need an image so that I can PXE boot and have everything setup through a TS. Currently I just need a Windows 7 boot image for the staff here. Eventually I will need a XP boot image for the student computers. I will be moving the student computers to Win7 in the future and at that time I can just change the TS around. (also in a few months we will be adding a new campus and will need to add a new distribution point.) All of our Dell computers we get come with Free Dos installed, so I will need to be doing a baremetal install of the Win 7 OS.

Okay.... for me capturing an existing system was THEE most difficult way to do that...(and really coming from a Ghostcast Server mindset, how I thought it should be done) why can't you use an original install image (Windows 7 media/iso).....

What I did/do is take that original image, load it in to a utility called RT7Lite (http://www.rt7lite.com/downloads.html) its free. That allowed me to make any/all changes I wanted to the original install, including slip-streaming service packs, tweaking and branding. (as well as make bootable USB media for the odd notebook we have). I then used that same image, placed within my distribution point, and install that using a task sequence.

Initially I had a hard time wrapping my head around it, and I insisted I wanted to make one complete machine, sysprep it, and dump that image on to 100's of others... (coming from a Ghost environment)..... but I was told that is not the way to do things in SCCM (despite my arguements)....

Here is a TS I deploy with...... exported.... the "Copy Custom Images" portion is optional and wont work without the associated batch files.... the rest is fairly standard....

I will check out RT7lite and see if it will work for me. I was finally able to get a log file off of the "capture" computer and it looks like it won't install the client onto the system after the install of Win7. Still trying to find out why.

I have worked plenty with SCCM (post install) and learned that there is no simple way to make it work. This is my first install from scratch and I have learned to love/hate this program!!! We previously had a Ghost type environment and you are right that it is completely different when it comes to capturing/deploying.

I will keep you posted. And if there are any other thoughts to the issue, please let me know. I am attaching the log file, for anyone interested in some light reading!

Just wondering have you tried just using WDS (Windows Deployement services) to capture the image? WDS lets you create a capture image that will copy the image into a WIM file on a server. (NOTE - you must sysprep the system before the capture image will work).

Usiing this method (actually I use MDT 2010 to do the capture but it is the same process) I first setup the comptuer, install all updates, and setup any basic software that needs to be on all computers.

once I have the captured imate I use WDS to deploy (install - because it does actually install the image not the Ghost style deploy) it to a new computer using PXE and then once the OS is installed it calls a BAT file that installs all the rest of my programs.

Yes this method does requrie touching the computers but I would expect SCCM would allow you to bypass some of the touching.

Just wondering have you tried just using WDS (Windows Deployement services) to capture the image?

Thanks for the thought, but SCCM 2007 works with WDS to do the capturing/deploying of the image. SCCM managers the WDS service and you don't have to configure anything within WDS, just make sure the service is installed. So to a point WDS is being used, its just in the background.

Matt the IT Guy wrote:

We previously had a Ghost type environment and you are right that it is completely different when it comes to capturing/deploying.

When I said this, I actually meant that we were using WDS on our 2003 server to manage all deployments. Sorry for the confusion. (SCCM had/has turned my mind to mush lately)

I sort of thought that SCCM did use WDS to do the deployment/capture. I was mostly wondering would the deployment/capture work if you did it strait from WDS. That way you would be able to see if the back half of the system works.

I will check out RT7lite and see if it will work for me. I was finally able to get a log file off of the "capture" computer and it looks like it won't install the client onto the system after the install of Win7. Still trying to find out why.

I have worked plenty with SCCM (post install) and learned that there is no simple way to make it work. This is my first install from scratch and I have learned to love/hate this program!!! We previously had a Ghost type environment and you are right that it is completely different when it comes to capturing/deploying.

I will keep you posted. And if there are any other thoughts to the issue, please let me know. I am attaching the log file, for anyone interested in some light reading!

Agreed that it is a different way of thinking relative to Ghost..... (which was most of the problem for me).... Once I adjusted my thinking I grew to "love" SCCM.

Just wondering have you tried just using WDS (Windows Deployement services) to capture the image? WDS lets you create a capture image that will copy the image into a WIM file on a server. (NOTE - you must sysprep the system before the capture image will work).

Usiing this method (actually I use MDT 2010 to do the capture but it is the same process) I first setup the comptuer, install all updates, and setup any basic software that needs to be on all computers.

once I have the captured imate I use WDS to deploy (install - because it does actually install the image not the Ghost style deploy) it to a new computer using PXE and then once the OS is installed it calls a BAT file that installs all the rest of my programs.

Yes this method does requrie touching the computers but I would expect SCCM would allow you to bypass some of the touching.

This is the same way I wanted to do things initially.... but using SCCM there is really no need to create an install wim (with all the pre-installed apps) as you can just add those to an SCCM task sequence.... whereas changes are much more difficult with a "hard coded" image of the install that includes all secondary apps (such as Office or Antivirus).... you can simply use original install media and just use the task sequence to add the other apps... that way if you want to change things in the future you dont have to create and entirely new wim, just update the task sequence. I only use RT7Lite to "trim the fat" so to speak and do the customization that will be standard to all installs... from there SCCM does the rest. (capturing an install image including everything is a wasted step, and only creating more work for you in the long run).

I agree Don't ever capture a install image with all the programs. All you need is one program to change and everything is down the drain.

I actually just install the OS, updates, and Lenovo's update software. This gives me a good base line to get all the updates on the system. I install all the programs using a BAT file (instead of SCCM). If we had the time/money SCCM would be really interesting to have but how I have it now is free and does most of the work for me.

What I did/do is take that original image, load it in to a utility called RT7Lite (http://www.rt7lite.com/downloads.html) its free. That allowed me to make any/all changes I wanted to the original install, including slip-streaming service packs, tweaking and branding. (as well as make bootable USB media for the odd notebook we have). I then used that same image, placed within my distribution point, and install that using a task sequence.

Thank you for the recommendation to RT7lite!! It is working great for me and has let me move forward. (FINALLY)

I would still love to figure out why I can't get the capture to work....I hate not finding an answer to something. So if anyone else has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

What I did/do is take that original image, load it in to a utility called RT7Lite (http://www.rt7lite.com/downloads.html) its free. That allowed me to make any/all changes I wanted to the original install, including slip-streaming service packs, tweaking and branding. (as well as make bootable USB media for the odd notebook we have). I then used that same image, placed within my distribution point, and install that using a task sequence.

Thank you for the recommendation to RT7lite!! It is working great for me and has let me move forward. (FINALLY)

I would still love to figure out why I can't get the capture to work....I hate not finding an answer to something. So if anyone else has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

I am with you on this.... it took me a long time to get it to work a single time.... and then realized it wasn't the best method. Wait until you try migrating user profiles "in place" while the end-user is working on their current machine..... I also got that process working eventually, and then realized it was more of a waste of time to migrate any profiles (at least here) with all important files being on network shares. Also the profile migration did not include everything I might want... such as the NK2 file... which is the main one our users miss..... being that I still had to do that manually, also exporting their favourites wasn't that much of an extra step.

This didn't solve it either. I am able to install the client manually on a workstation using the Admin account. But still won't install during the capture process.

When I add the computer via the "Computer Association" step, the computer never shows up in the Collection that I specify. I am wondering if this is the real problem.

This I MIGHT have some suggestions for .... try searching for the machine (the one you want to import) using MAC address or machine name using a variable. I've had this happen many times to me.. and what happens is that it seems to duplicate entries that may already exist. So if I import a machine "Glenbow-5555" sometimes there is already an entry for "GLENBOW-5555" that seems to cause it problems. This happens whenever I image one machine several times testing various task sequences. Eventually I am "forced" to search for that machine, find all references to it, and delete them and start over..... THEN with that failing sometimes, I have found restarting WDS service on the SCCM box has helped in numerous situations. (IF you need more specifics on the search let me know I will take some screenshots).

This didn't solve it either. I am able to install the client manually on a workstation using the Admin account. But still won't install during the capture process.

When I add the computer via the "Computer Association" step, the computer never shows up in the Collection that I specify. I am wondering if this is the real problem.

this might help (a real crappy walkthrough I just made for that specific problem). I was advised by Anyweb on windowsnoob.com of this process... and have had to do this more times than I remember.

(word doc attached hopefully)

Thanks for the walkthrough!! I will give this a shot. In testing a bunch of things I noticed that I could not boot to PXE. I guess I never tried doing this since setting up SCCM. Currently I have a WDS setup on another server that is handling all of our current images. I don't want to get rid of this yet, so I was just disabling the WDS service on the other server. I may have something there still holding onto the WDS service which is causing my issues with the WDS server on the SCCM server. A question - Does the PXE/WDS service have to be working in order to build/capture an image?

I deleted all of that and only left the SMSCACHESIZE=8000. This then installed the client and continue with installing software in the TS.

The patch doesn't make to much a difference in the end for me. I have collections setup that will automatically install the patch if it isn't already installed. I will update on the Build and Capture issue soon.

The problem with the Build and Capture was the same issue as stated above with the PATCH in the Config Manager settings. I made the changes to my Build and Capture TS and was able to successfully capture an image.

I had been using the RT7lite image but it for some reason would install the OS on the D drive even through during the deployment it would say imaging to C. At the very end it would change to D. Seems to be a common issue out there.

I would love to use the RT7lite capture since I was able to remove Games and such. Any thoughts on how to do this? Or how to remove that from the Capture image I just got. (Maybe that needs a new thread)

Thanks again guys. Not sure I would have any hair left if it wasn't for you guys!!

The problem with the Build and Capture was the same issue as stated above with the PATCH in the Config Manager settings. I made the changes to my Build and Capture TS and was able to successfully capture an image.

I had been using the RT7lite image but it for some reason would install the OS on the D drive even through during the deployment it would say imaging to C. At the very end it would change to D. Seems to be a common issue out there.

I would love to use the RT7lite capture since I was able to remove Games and such. Any thoughts on how to do this? Or how to remove that from the Capture image I just got. (Maybe that needs a new thread)

Thanks again guys. Not sure I would have any hair left if it wasn't for you guys!!

hmmmm I never had that issue using RT7Lite.... sounds more like a task sequence setting that perhaps was missed?

Today I am having my own SCCM nightmares.... I hadn't imaged a machine in a couple of weeks, I went down to image one today to get it setup for our new warehouse........ first I get TFTP errors saying it can't find the file to pxe boot. I do some research and find a suggestion about clearing the path c:\windows\temp\xpebootimages\windows and then restarting the WDS service..... after much messing around I was finaly able to get the WDS service started (it was hanging on "starting")... I add my machine to the collection (as I always do), pxe boot the PC..... it starts......... and then never appears to do anything..... the smsts.log might be meaningful... but not to me... and it all seems (SEEMS) to stem from WSUS at this point.... but I've pulled out enough hair for today... so I am giving up and looking with fresh eyes tomorrow..... I'd love to nuke the entire box and set it up from a clean install. I inherited this server, after the previous person also inherited it..... it's a mess and I'd love to have a clean slate (maybe tomorrow if I can find time). So annoyed that it sits untouched for 2 weeks-ish... and then doesn't work..... pfffft back to hating it for now.